National Award-winning Tamil filmmaker Vetri Maaran issued a statement on Tuesday regarding the controversy surrounding actor Suriya's latest film Jai Bhim, which premiered earlier this month on Amazon Prime Video. Directed by T. J. Gnanavel, the courtroom drama produced under Suriya and Jyotika's 2D Entertainment banner had run into trouble after its release with the Tamil Nadu political party Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Vanniyar Sangam, who lashed out against the actor and the film for hurting the sentiments of their community. Vetri Maaran took to social media on Tuesday and expressed his support and stood by Suriya and director T. J. Gnanavel for their efforts to bring awareness about the plight of the victims of police brutality and caste atrocities with their Jai Bhim.
Vetri Maaran tweeted, "No one can be made to feel lesser for doing the right thing#Jaibheem. Suriya is one star who is redefining stardom." He also shared a note stating, "The commitment of director T. J. Gnanavel to make this film to let the world know the plight of the victims and Suriya's constant efforts towards social justice, on and offscreen is truly inspiring. #Jaibheem. It's only natural these films cause angst amongst those who don't want the status quo to change. #WeStandWithSuriya. Films that question the inequalities and injustices of a society too are weapons towards social justice.We stand by the whole team of #Jaibheem." Below is Vetri Maaran's statement in support of Suriya and T. J. Gnanavel for their Jai Bhim:
No one can be made to feel lesser for doing the right thing#Jaibheem. Suriya is one star who is redefining stardom. pic.twitter.com/BUdjw6v0g1
— Vetri Maaran (@VetriMaaran) November 16, 2021
Suriya's Jai Bhim has been garnering immense praise and support from fans and personalities from all walks of life for bringing to light the real life legal battle of an Irular tribe woman, who with the help of Rtd. Justice Chandru, fought for the justice of her husband and the people from the oppressed castes after they were framed in false cases by the police for crimes they did not commit. The PMK and Vanniyar Sangam had stated that the depiction of their emblem in a particular shot in Jai Bhim, including naming the character of the killer cop as Gurumurthy had hurt the sentiments of the Vanniyar community. It is to be noted that both Suriya and Vetri Maaran are set to collaborate for the upcoming film, Vaadivaasal, which is an adaptation of acclaimed Tamil writer Ci. Su. Sellappa's novel of the same name.